Soul of a Butterfly

The Soul Of A Butterfly is not a book about boxing; it is a book about life. Muhammad Ali's reflection on his life, co-written with his daughter Hana Yasmeen Ali, deals with issues that go beyond boxing. Ali details his own journey from the small skinny kid who started boxing to punish the thieves that stole his bike to one of the most recognizable men in the world today. While it was Ali who stood down the United States Government and invented the rope-a-dope to upset George Foreman, it was Cassius Clay who first dreamed of being heavyweight champ. We see the transformation from Clay to Ali.

Ali seemed to have that inner drive to achieve greatness and an awareness of the world around him from the very beginning. As a youngster, he could never understand why he only saw white super heroes and a Christ that was white as well. It was Ali dream to be that black role model. This would lead him on a journey that extended beyond the ring.

There are some interesting tidbits. One example is Ali disclosing that he was dyslexia and this affected his learning as a child. It was always curious to me that one of the quickest minds in sports and man who could adapt as quickly as any men in the ring would have trouble passing intelligence tests. Now we know. Ali suffered from a learning disability.

He described his journey to the Nation of Islam in the beginning as a rebellion against White society as much as a journey in faith. It is now faith that takes precedence over any feeling of hatred or revenge.

Ali wrote, “The Nation of Islam taught that White people were devils. I don’t believe it that now; in fact I never really believed that White men were devils. But when I was young, I had seen and heard so many horrible stories about the White man that this made me stop and listen.” He also chided the press for misrepresenting the Nation of Islam as a hate sect and complained, “We never preached hate and “Black Muslims” as a name given to us by the media.” He softened the Nation of Islam stances on race relation by writing, “Elijah Muhammad was not teaching hate when he told us about all of the evil things the White man has done any more than the Whites are teaching hate when they tell you what Hitler did to the Jews. That’s not hate; that’s history.”

Article Author: Tom Donelson

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